Today's News

Land acquisition and the Talented and Gifted programs will be the main topics when the Shelby County Board of Education meets Thursday at East Middle School at 7 p.m.

The board will recognize students that have met qualifications for the Duke University Talent Identification Program and hear a presentation from the Shelby County High School Talented and Gifted students.

The board will also take action on acquiring several parcels of land for the access road to Southside Elementary.

The illegal use of drugs and drug-related activities – including the availability startling new drugs that can be found at the corner grocery – have spiked significantly in Shelby County, mirroring the statewide problem that has drawn the attention of lawmakers.

Drug-related arrests were made on 884 people in 2011, a rise of an alarming 28.5 percent, with arrests by the Kentucky State Police showing a staggering 49 percent increase in the county.

Recently a lawyer from the firm Neal & Davis wrote a few short paragraphs “About gun laws,” April 18) ranting about thanking the NRA for a Florida homicide being the "result" of a "stand your ground" law.

The chorus of public debate about the proposed outlet mall in Simpsonville is just getting warmed up for what promises to be a full-blown, 3-act opera, and we hope to avoid a tragic aria at the end.

Anytime something large and new is projected to be positioned in an area that previously has been a pristine barrier of nature for residents and property owners, there almost always is an immediate cry that such a change would be a bad thing for those vested in an area.

Recently I heard the phrase “the new norm” being tossed around. I cannot specifically remember to what it was in reference, but I started thinking about what Shelby County Public Schools will look like when we meet our Big Goals: all fifth-graders going to middle school on grade level, all middle-schoolers going to high school on grade level and all students graduating college and career ready.

We see selfless acts frequently in Shelby County, but none has inspired us more profoundly than when we heard about the efforts of 12-year-old Jessica Carter.

Maybe you saw the story about Jessica, a student at West Middle School. In 2009, after watching the movie The Blind Side and hearing the reaction of previously vagabond Michael Oher when he was presented with his very own bed, she was struck that there were other kids like Mr. Oher who didn’t have a place to sleep.

A Shelby County family trying win a wheelchair-accessible van to transport their disabled 14-year-old son is mounting a charge.

Voters have rallied behind the family of Margaret Hall, voting for them 7,600 times in a competition through www.mobilityawarenessmonth.com to win the van for Glenn, who was born with a rare chromosomal disease, partial trisomy 6Q, and is confined to a wheelchair.

LAWRENCEBURG – Having a college coach offer you a grant-in-aid after you’ve pitched a baseball game is usually a pretty good indicator of how you fared that day.

Just ask Chris Cervantes.

Cervantes, a senior at Collins, no-hit host Anderson County for the first 5 2/3 innings – and gave up just two hits in six complete innings – in the Titans’ 8-0 blanking of the Bearcats in a big 30th District game Monday evening .

Has your doctor told you that you are making yourself sick, that your pain or disability will continue to get worse until you change your lifestyle? Perhaps you have had trouble complying with doctor’s orders about alcohol, cigarettes, street drugs, prescription pills, physical therapy, losing weight, getting exercise, eating a balanced diet, or changing your high-stress lifestyle.

If you read the rest of this article and get turned off, I hope you will at least have the courage and wisdom to ask yourself the question at the end of this article.